Roses tinged with the sharpest bite of amber, thick with vanilla and musk. The scent bled a good ten metres out.

The source of the elegant smell was a woman. Long dark hair. Cold, piercing golden eyes. A red dress that matched her crimson lips, and a black veil covering her hair. Her skin was smooth and well-kept, bearing the scent of fine oils and lotion.

Her proportions weren’t something to overlook either. Thick thighs with a refined taper from the waist down. Above the waist, though, it evened out. Her body carried that classic contrast: full below, slim above.

Behind her, a man in a suit and a black tie. Grey hair and mustache, wrinkles that had plenty to say about his years.

They stood in the middle of the walkway, passersby unable to keep their eyes off them. Yet the two of them smiled at one person in particular. Golden hair tied back with a red band, golden eyes, an evenly proportioned build close to five-eleven, and a posture that spoke of nobility and well-bred manners without a word needed.

He wore a black cadet uniform with a military overcoat draped on his shoulders. The woman and the elderly man smiled as they meant it. His was a different story.

It was forced, with sweat beading at his face, stripping away the handsome confidence he always carried and leaving something far shyer in its place.

"Your presence has changed... I can tell you are getting stronger, Leo."

Rosemary said, closing the distance to Leomaris and cupping his cheeks, her sparkling eyes speaking long before the words could finally leave her.

"I’m proud of you."

Leomaris gulped bile. He couldn’t rightly tell if it was fear, but despite the gloves on Rosemary’s hands, he felt the coldness wherever she touched.

He had become stronger, he wouldn’t deny that. But that wasn’t what his mother was referring to, he was certain of it. It was the unholy presence he radiated.

He’d always been terrified of her, and standing before her with such a sinister presence radiating off him did him no favours.

An awkward laugh escaped him, his eyes refusing to meet hers.

"You think so? Thank you, Mother."

"I miss you so terribly."

Rosemary’s smile widened, and she pulled him into a very tight hug. Leomaris was half suffocated by it alone, but there was nothing to be done. He endured.

When she finally let him go, Leomaris gasped for air before bracing himself. They were getting too much attention where they stood, and if Rosemary was here, then he had a pretty fair idea of why she would be.

"Why don’t we head to Rosay’s mansion, Mother? Are you not tired?"

As soon as the words fell on her ears, her expression darkened. It was cold and intimidating, the sort she had always worn before Leomaris had proved his worth as a Runerth.

His body shivered. Far too familiar, and it brought old ghosts creeping back.

Rosemary’s eyes swept over the cadets standing about, and even those walking past who couldn’t keep their eyes to themselves.

"I will do no such thing, Leo. My presence here is to tell everyone who you belong to." Her eyes drifted back into Leomaris’s golden ones. "And you belong to me, Leo."

The awkward smile couldn’t be helped. It spoke plainly of his discomfort. He knew Rosemary had always been overly protective, obsessed, even. The original Leomaris had lived with that all his life. For him, it was new, and it made him far more uncomfortable than he’d anticipated.

"I know about that, Mother... but aren’t you tired, though?"

Rosemary’s expression grew softer and gentler.

"Not at all. As long as I stand here with you, that will be all the strength I need."

Leomaris exhaled, disbelief slipping out with it. He knew she wouldn’t listen. He said it anyway.

"Right... I brought something from Samael for you..."

With a quiet gesture, Sebastian drew a brown envelope from his coat and stepped forward, handing it to Leomaris with a respectful nod.

Leomaris took it in good faith. He had asked his older brother for information on certain people who wanted him dead. A simple telegram was what he’d expected in return, but this felt far too heavy for a mere letter.

With a straight face, he found Rosemary’s eyes.

"What about what I asked for, Mother?"

Rosemary didn’t say a word. Sebastian stepped forward once more and handed him another brown envelope.

"You can find everything you need in there. However, I would like to brief you on it. Once someone is cursed by the Goddess, she never acts directly until they have acquired a specific level of power. There are only two people in history who have been cursed. And they only received her attention after their strength increased. This does not mean the curse would not be troublesome, though."

Leomaris’s expression darkened.

"What happened to the two who were cursed? Did she kill them?"

Rosemary motioned in contrast.

"The Goddess never simply kills; she tortures. From the right perspective, even the sun can become torture, can it not? The same is true for the Firstlight Goddess."

Leomaris let out a foul breath. He didn’t know what he was expecting. The Firstlight Goddess wasn’t someone to reckon with, he knew that much. He just had to look after himself from here on out.

Leomaris’s attention snagged on Rosemary’s seductive smile.

"I have excluded some of the information for the thrill of it. I like what you are becoming, Leo. No... I love it!"

Leomaris’s mouth hung open, still trying to process what Rosemary had just said. Meanwhile, her elegance returned, composed and noble as ever.

"I will be leaving you to attend to your daily activities, Leo."

She smiled softly. "Please give my regards to your fiancée, if you would."

Her smile faded. "Be very careful in the coming days, Leo... become much stronger."

The words left her like that were the sole reason she’d bothered to come.

With that, she turned and walked away. Sebastian was trailing close behind.

He watched his mother and her personal butler walk away, his mind still stuck on what she’d said.

’She left out some of the information for the thrill... and told me to be careful?’

He wasn’t particularly bothered by the gaps in the information. He already had what he needed. What nagged at him was what Rosemary’s words meant.

She had always been all-knowing, and it made him uneasy as much as it made him curious. It felt strange. It felt as though...

’...she knows everything about me.’